


Working Hard or Hardly Working

by Autumn_Solitude



Series: Displaced in Time and Space [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Depression, First Dates, Gen, How to date a supposedly oblivious crush, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, Spicyhoney - Freeform, genocide route Underswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Autumn_Solitude/pseuds/Autumn_Solitude
Summary: When flippantly asking your counterpart from another universe on a date has unexpected results.
Relationships: Papyrus/Papyrus (Undertale), Spicyhoney
Series: Displaced in Time and Space [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1975351
Comments: 13
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> With this trash fire of a year, I figured, why not finally indulge in writing some spicyhoney to cheer myself up?

Ten years, three hundred sixty-four days, twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-five seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one...

Eleven years.

Eleven years in an empty world of dust and loneliness that hadn’t yet been reset.

One year to the day since Stretch had attempted to use the machine in his basement to turn back time himself. It hadn’t worked in the way Stretch had expected, as it only brought the population of the underground to a grand total of two monsters. And the other monster wasn’t from Stretch’s universe, but from an alternate one in a very different timeline. 

That had been an interesting yet very stressful meeting.

Edge, as Stretch almost immediately dubbed the other skeleton monster, had not been pleased to find himself back underground. A lucky timeline, Edge’s, to survive in what sounded like a very a hostile environment long enough to see the surface world.

Speaking of said monster...

Stretch listlessly stared up at his bedroom ceiling, before turning his skull to the side to glance at his closed bedroom door.

Edge hadn’t woken him up.

The scarred skeleton hadn't barged into Stretch’s room like he had every day these past four months like clockwork. For whatever reason, Edge had decided in that skull of his to include Stretch into his daily routine, which involved ah early wake-up call. Edge was ridiculously strict with his schedule, so for him to miss waking Stretch up...

It was different.

Stretch slowly sat up.

Had there...had there finally been a reset? 

After all this time?

Not daring to get his hopes up yet, Stretch slid off his mattress with a weary sigh and shuffled over to his closet. Pulling on a rumpled orange hoodie and khakis, Stretch slid his socked feet into some atrociously bright orange crocs. He knew that Edge absolutely loathed the footwear and often attempted to dispose of the more offensive articles of clothing. If there hadn’t been a reset, Stretch wanted to tease his counterpart, and with his ‘lazy’ and ‘messy’ clothes...well, they were a go-to for such things.

Edge particularly disliked the hoodie Stretch currently wore.

It proudly proclaimed ‘my honey-bae’ with an arrow pointing to one side beneath the letters.

It was perfect, and was sure to get a good laugh out of Stretch the moment Edge caught sight of it, his fangs sure to twitch into a grimace. Stretch could use a good laugh, considering how silent the house was as he walked down the stairs. The quiet put Stretch into a sombre mood with every step he took.

There hadn’t been a reset.

Stretch knew in his soul that his brother would have already made an appearance by now if that was the case. That, and as soon as Stretch peeked out a window, he spotted Edge. With a quick shortcut outside, Stretch kept a careful distance away as he quietly observed the other skeleton monster.

Edge was still dressed in his sharp, pointy uniform, as he ordinarily was since he’d been forcibly dragged through time and space to this underground. Edge hardly ever changed out of it except on rare occasions, such as spending downtime in the house or when he presumably slept.

The scarred, blind left socket was half-turned toward Stretch, but he knew that if he kept still and quiet, Edge wouldn’t notice him straight away. It was dangerous, however, if Stretch happened to startle him. But Stretch took the chance to get his fill of the very handsome, if prickly, skeleton monster before him. 

It was such a shame that Edge had a stick firmly up his coccyx. He wouldn’t know what romance or having some fun was if it danced a number naked in front of him.

Stretch was certain _something_ would happen if he walked without clothes in front of Edge, but Stretch wasn’t about to test the theory. He liked his ‘messy’ clothes, thank you very much. They didn’t need holes in them like what happened with one of his other favorite hoodies when he’d last tried to get Edge to ‘loosen’ up. 

Thinking back, a whoopee cushion really hadn’t been the brightest idea to subject someone to, especially someone as high strung as Edge was.

It hadn’t been a pretty sight.

Or the long lecture of how Edge could have dusted Stretch if he hadn’t seen him come into the living room after the loud noise had set Edge on, well, edge.

Lesson learned.

No more loud, unexpected noises in the house without at least a little warning.

Stretch’s eye lights continued to rove over Edge lazily, drinking in the other from skull to those ridiculously red high heeled boots. It was late afternoon, by Stretch’s reckoning, and by now, Edge ought to have been going through a set of his royal guard training exercises before having lunch and going back on a fruitless patrol. Instead, Edge was leaning against the wall of the house, a scowl planted firmly on his face. There was a good chance that Edge’s one good eye light was burning a hole into whatever his sight was set on.

Stretch felt it dangerous that he had, in these past few months since Edge had started being less hostile, indulged in some fantasies of being the recipient of those glares. Preferably near a couch or a bed. Stretch wasn’t sure why his feelings toward the other skeleton had shifted over time. But it did seem to coincide with when Edge decided to include Stretch in his rigid daily routine, instead of leaving Stretch to wallow in his general day to day misery. It was exhausting some days, what with how early Edge woke Stretch up...but there had been some small instances that gave Stretch insight into the other monster’s mind.

It was...both consistent and inconsistent, depending on the day.

Stretch knew that he wasn’t the only one affected by the emptiness of this underground.

Edge seemed to find a way to distract himself from this by having some control over what was done any given day. Edge liked every meal to be eaten at the same time each day. The daily ‘patrols’ Edge went on were done at exactly the same time between meals. Stretch and Edge spent a set amount of time together each day in the living room reading or watching movies that were found in the dump. Stretch even realized, after a few weeks into this new schedule, that he was never woken up in a violent way.

Edge would always loudly announce his presence before he kicked or slammed the door open and demanded that Stretch get his lazy coccyx up at once. And if Stretch ignored Edge and tried to go back to sleep, the scarred skeleton merely stomped over to the mattress, picked Stretch up, and brought him to the kitchen. 

Other times, the schedule was disrupted by Edge letting his anger get the better of him.

At times, Stretch would see Edge storm off out of the house, after some verbal sparring or a flippant remark, and this occasionally resulted in Edge staying away for days. Edge presumably stewed in some form of self-hatred, because when he returned to the house, Edge made it a point to avoid Stretch. But even if Stretch never saw Edge during these times, other than hearing doors open and close, Stretch found apologies and concern for his wellbeing in different forms. Meals that had been cooked, a house that had been cleaned, laundry done, and other little things that Stretch didn’t have to worry about if his mood went south and he locked himself in his room. There were even notes strewn about for Stretch to find on days that Edge kept out of sight, that contained jokes or riddles that kept him busy and entertained.

It was a confusing, topsy-turvy cocktail of conflicting emotions and intentions that he and Edge were bringing into the house this past year.

But the schedule Edge strictly kept to didn’t explain his nighttime wandering.

Being something of an insomniac, Stretch could have sworn in those rare instances of actual slumber that Edge watched him sleep, which was rather creepy, all things considered. But whenever Stretch woke up, no one was there in the room with him. All Stretch could sense in those waking moments was a hint of magic not his own that could have merely lingered from when Edge woke him in the mornings.

But this past week?

Something had subtlety changed.

Edge had begun to stare at Stretch in a calculating way.

Now, Stretch didn’t want to think that Edge was back to considering him as easy EXP, which was how Edge had viewed him when Edge had first arrived in this universe. Even if that no longer appeared to be a concern, that didn’t mean that it didn’t linger in the back of Stretch’s mind.

A light breeze blew some snowflakes into his sockets, causing Stretch to blink his sockets and shake his skull, bringing himself back to the present. This motion subsequently made Stretch take the tiniest step back, which in turn alerted the other monster to his presence.

“I KNOW YOU ARE THERE.” Edge said without preamble. “IT IS AMAZING THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY CONSCIOUS WITHOUT A WAKEUP CALL, ASHTRAY.” Edge turned so that his single red eye light could sweep over Stretch. “WHY HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE FOR SO LONG WITHOUT A WORD? I DIDN’T BELIEVE IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO BE SO QUIET, APART FROM WHEN YOU SLEEP MOST OF THE DAY AWAY.”

Stretch needed to do something, anything, before he went crazy. It was so frustrating that he had an interest in this pompous asshole. Stretch needed to find a way to get Edge himself to end Stretch’s bottled up feelings before they went out of control.

”OF COURSE YOU HAVEN’T FULLY WOKEN YET. NO WONDER THERE HAS BEEN NO WITTY REMARK FROM YOU AS OF YET.” Edge growled, impatiently pushing away from the wall as he prowled toward Stretch. “COME. WE WILL HAVE LUNCH BEFORE I GO ON MY AFTERNOON PATROL. STARS KNOW WHY I EVEN BOTHER...”

”hey, edgelord.” Stretch drawled, as he stood to one side to allow Edge’s hand to fall on the door handle.

“HE SPEAKS.” There was sarcastic lilt to Edge’s voice. “ARE YOU GOING TO SAY SOMETHING THAT YOU BELIEVE IS PARTICULARLY WITTY TO GO ALONG WITH THAT TERRIBLE HOODIE YOU’VE DECIDED TO OFFEND MY EYE LIGHT WITH?”

”nah, i’ll pass. s’somethin’ else.” When Stretch saw those sockets narrow at him, he grinned lazily in return. “if you’re not busy later, wanna go on a date?”

Edge could have done a number of things.

Yell.

Stamp his foot and let out some disgusted noise.

Shot back with an insult to thoroughly turn Stretch down.

Edge could have done literally anything but what he actually did, which was to quietly stare at Stretch with great intensity.

“WE WILL GO THIS EVENING.” Edge informed Stretch haughtily after a long moment of silence. The scarred skeleton straightened himself up to his full height before he disappeared into the house, red scarf trailing after him in the breeze.

Stretch stood there with his teeth parted in a taken aback, ‘holy shit what just happened’, kind of way.

That.

That was unexpected.

Had that really just happened?

Stretch stared at the open front door, seeing it for what it was. An invitation for him to go back into the house as well. But Stretch remained rooted to the spot because his mind was still reeling from this unexpected response.

Edge willingly agreeing to go on a date?

With _Stretch_?

It was such a bizarre concept when one considered that they’d been at each other’s theoretical throats for nearly a whole entire year.

Stretch‘s teeth were still parted. He had only suggested such a thing to get a rise out of the other monster. He hadn’t anticipated for Edge to so easily...

Oh stars.

What had he _done_?

Stretch remained on the porch for a very long time, until Edge came back outside with a frown across his sharp features.

“ARE YOU COMING IN OR NOT?”

Stretch’s eye lights flickered in his sockets.

Was he in shock?

Probably.

A twitch tugged at Edge’s sharp teeth to bring it up into something of a smug smile.

“I KNOW THAT I AM A FIGURE TO BE ADMIRED FOR MY GREATNESS...” Edge stepped closer, reaching out to gently press the underside of Stretch’s jaw up to make his teeth click back together. Edge let his gloved fingers trace the bone lightly before he dropped his hand away and stepped back. “BUT IF YOU INSIST ON REMAINING OUTSIDE, SUDDENLY OVERWHELMED BY MY PRESENCE, AT LEAST WEAR SOMETHING WARMER.” Edge crosses his arms and huffed out an aggravated grumble. “I DO NOT CARE TO EXPERIENCE CARRYING YOUR BODY INDOORS AGAIN IF YOU ALLOW YOUR JOINTS TO FREEZE AGAIN WHILST VISITING THE...GRAVES.” 

Stretch felt his skull warm with magic as his mind caught up and informed him that Edge had just willingly touched him.

Being lifted out of bed didn’t count.

This had been a completely different touch, that light tap to the underside of his jawbone.

Stretch slunk past Edge and his still-smug expression to go back into the house, the taller swap monster’s phalanges reaching up to trace where the gloved fingers had brushed against his jawbone. The sensation of being watched lingered with Stretch throughout lunch, until Edge stomped out of the house to do his daily ‘patrol,’ despite there being no other monsters left in the underground but the two of them.

Once he was alone, Stretch went to go lay inert on the couch in the living room, staring up at the ceiling.

After all the jabs, teasing, dismissive remarks, insults and verbal sparring...

Edge had agreed to a date.

No questions asked.

Didn't even bat a socket that it was Stretch who asked him.

Edge had simply thought about what had been asked of him, and then promptly set a time for it.

Stretch rolled over and pressed his face into a pillow, sockets closed as he let out a groan. Maybe he would take a quick nap, and the world would make sense when Stretch woke back up. There was no way Edge would ever be interested in someone like him.

How wrong Stretch was.

Some hours passed before the front door opened and closed.

Stretch didn’t wake when a blanket was draped over his slumbering form. Stretch didn’t even stir when a few gloved phalange carefully brushed across the top of his skull, lingering for a moment before retreating.


	2. Chapter 2

Stretch would be dead within a day in Edge’s underground. No one would dare sleep so peacefully in the middle of a room that had not been fortified against potential attacks.

It was up for debate if Stretch would even survive on the surface world.

Edge remained in the living room longer than he meant to, observing the fast asleep monster in question. With an exasperated hiss between sharp teeth, Edge about faced.

He shouldn’t linger.

The patrol of Snowdin’s outskirts all the way to the Ruins and back would take Edge a few hours, if one included checking on traps and puzzles, and discerning whether or not any new soul had fallen into the underground.

It didn’t seem likely, but Edge wouldn’t shirk the daily duties he had given himself to stay sane while living in this place that was and wasn’t like his home.

Edge quietly slipped out the front door before locking it. There was no point in doing this. Not in this particular underground. But it was a familiar routine, and one that Edge wanted to continue with. It hadn’t been too difficult to convince Stretch to relinquish the key. The ashtray didn’t seem to give a shit what Edge did with himself for the first several months of his impromptu stay in this wretched universe.

Edge frowned up at the falling snow before striding off.

Keep to the routine.

Keep to the familiar route that he used to take over and over again back home.

This Snowdin Edge passed through was familiar yet unfamiliar, with Muffet’s replacing Grillby’s.

Edge never stepped foot in the building unless he had to scrounge up some extra food from dimensional boxes. Sweets were nearly as bad as greasy food in Edge's mind, but he had learned, over the past year, that Stretch was partial to the honey there, much like Edge’s brother coveted the mustard at Grillby’s. Keeping some honey on hand helped to encourage the sedate skeleton into motion on particularly bad days.

Perhaps Edge would stop by on the way back to Stretch’s home.

Focus.

Edge squared his shoulders once he left the vicinity of Snowdin to head for the first trap. It was pointless, just like every other day he had gone day, because apart from clearing away the snow, nothing ever changed.

No traps were tripped.

None of the puzzles strewn throughout the patrol were ever solved. The only thing that happened were the puzzles being recalibrated to Edge’s satisfaction.

Despite Edge’s impeccable attention to detail and pride in his duties that he’d performed in the royal guard, Edge found that, as he made his way toward the ruins, his thoughts began to wander in a dangerous manner. Had it merely been about potential threats that were never truly there, it wouldn’t have bothered Edge as much. But no, his thoughts were brought back to the lazybones monster whose home this underground was.

Edge knelt to brush off a gravestone near the entrance to the Ruins, before letting himself in through the broken stone door. A single red eye light roved in the dark of the corridor until Edge came upon some patches of natural light.

This was a fool’s errand.

No one had fallen the entire year after Edge had been forced to come to this place.

Edge lapsed into silence as he traveled through the tomb of a frozen home before heading back out into flowers. To the place where in his universe, the human who had saved them all and brought them to the surface had fallen.

Nothing.

No one had fallen.

All that could be seen was a tiny pinprick of light, mocking Edge with what he had been rudely torn away from.

Edge sat down amongst the flowers, gloved fingers reaching out to trace petals quietly. The scarred monster let out a short, disbelieving laugh. He was delaying heading back, wasn’t he? Back to the house that contained that conundrum of a skeleton monster. 

Back to Stretch, who had asked him on a date out of the blue, after all of the teasing, taunts and verbal sparring that they had engaged in ever since they’d first met.

It ticked Edge off to no end that he’d become so soft around the other skeleton monster. Well, softer to anyone from Edge’s home. Not that Stretch would have noticed, apart from the change in routine.

Edge had decided, about four months ago, that there really was something to be admired in someone who could live on despite being all alone for so long. To persevere and attempt to change one’s fate, even though nothing had come of it.

The depression had closed in on Stretch soon after that, and Edge had allowed it to continue, as he’d been furious at being torn away from his home. But after some months of thought on the matter, Edge had come to a subconscious decision.

One morning, four months ago, Edge had gotten up one morning, dressed and ready to go on an early morning workout, when he’d heard whimpers come from Stretch’s room.

It was the first time he hadn’t ignored the noise.

Edge had entered the room and found Stretch curled up within magic soaked sheets, scrabbling with phalanges until they dug into the pillow. It had...bothered Edge, to see the other monster in such a miserable state, which reminded him eerily of his own brother’s really bad nights. While Edge knew that Stretch wasn’t likely to respond well to how he’d helped his own brother, perhaps being given a schedule would help ease some things.

Edge came back to the present as he silently stared down at the flower he had stilled his fingers against, fangs tugging into a smirk. 

The pissed off, sleepy expression that fateful morning had been the most life Edge had seen in Stretch in the whole eight months he’d known him.

Edge hadn’t woken Stretch this morning for the first time in four months. Edge’s reasoning for this had been because the moment he had reached out to wake a deeply asleep Stretch, the sleeping monster had grasped Edge’s hand.

No one had touched him like that before.

Yes, it was just his _gloved_ hand, but Edge didn’t usually allow someone to get so close.

It had...made him feeling _something_.

Edge plucked the flower from the ground and held it between two fingers, before placing it within the scarf around his neck as he stood up.

To have Stretch ask him on a date after experiencing that this morning...it made Edge’s soul flutter.

What was he supposed to say other than yes, in a roundabout way?

Edge had already had a good idea that Stretch held an interest in him, but Edge felt there was some cultural clash in following through with that interest. Because whenever Edge pushed back to show his own, albeit confused at the time, interest, Stretch would recoil and retreat, only to come back swinging with snark and bite to his words.

Picking fights and attempting physical confrontations were of the norm where Edge was from, so he was understandably taken aback when Stretch gave him that damned lazy grin of his and just outright asked him on a date. Just asked him, without so much as a verbal retort to Edge’s jab at him.

Edge automatically backtracked through the Ruins and out into the snow on his way back to Snowdin.

The nerves began to creep in now that it was almost evening.

Edge was woefully unprepared for a date, even if he hadn’t been trapped in such a quiet place with limited resources. He would have planned something better if he’d been given more time than he had given himself. But Edge felt that Stretch would have laughed his own words off if Edge didn’t accept and set a time for the date immediately. 

At the realization that he was nearly back to Stretch’s home, Edge pulled out a battered dating manual from his dimensional box. With his face practically inches from the pages, Edge half-mused how this normally would have been a death wish, when one didn’t pay attention to their surroundings.

Step One was already complete, as the date had been secured.

Step Two was appropriate dress for the date.

That may prove more difficult, but over the past year, Edge gathered clothing from the dump that passed his high standards.

Step Three...Edge figured he could save those tips for once there had been a successful date.

Edge stowed the book away as he made a brief stop by Muffet’s, before continuing on to the house. He walked up the steps, and unlocked the front door. Edge stood just inside, assessing the immediate surroundings automatically, before quietly closing and locking the door when no threats made themselves known.

Stretch was still fast asleep.

Not a surprise, that.

Edge felt his soul flutter again and he growled inwardly at it as he swept up the stairs into Stretch’s brother’s room. Despite all the time that had gone by it was still...disquieting, to be in a dusted monster’s room. But Stretch refused to relinquish the couch that ‘fit him perfectly’ nor could Stretch stand the idea of Edge cleaning up the clutter he’d accumulated in his bedroom.

So Edge got the dead brother’s bedroom. It didn’t sit right with him, but if it made Stretch happy to have him utilize the room, so be it. 

Edge went to the closet and opened it up. Ignoring half the clothes that were not his own, he scrutinized the options before making his selection. A dark red sweater, black leather pants that were a bit torn, and a faux leather jacket with broken spikes on its shoulders. His high heeled boots would remain, as would his gloved, though his red scarf would be left on the bed, carefully folded up.

The flower was placed in a vase, to be given at the end of the date upon return to the house. 

One trip to the bathroom, complete with use of a cold shower, and Edge exited dressed in his ‘date’ outfit, his next destination the kitchen.

Predictably, Stretch was still dead to the world, which allowed Edge time to make dinner for both of them.

Edge already knew where he wanted to take Stretch on their date. By process of elimination, and to keep Stretch’s grief to a minimum, Edge decided that they would go to the place in Waterfall where the ceiling held false stars and an unusual calm in the air. There was a bench in the same area. A bench that Edge _might_ have moved there himself so that he could take short breaks there when on patrol to and from Hotland. 

It was a peaceful enough place, though it remained to be seen if Stretch was actually willing to leave the house.

Edge busied himself in the kitchen, scowling now and again as he found that he couldn’t make what he really intended to for the meal. It seemed he would have to make do with what he had available to him, as Edge had done when he had been trapped in his own underground.

Forty-five minutes later, Edge inwardly preened at what he had managed to produce for dinner.

A savory pie with water sausage from Waterfall, along with other ingredients from Muffet’s.

It wasn’t much, but it was the best Edge could make on short notice.

The bottle of honey in the cupboard was for Stretch, later, once they arrived at their destination in Waterfall.

Edge lingered in the kitchen gathering dishes and glasses but knew that there was nothing else to do but wake the other monster up. Absently making certain he was presentable, Edge left the kitchen and walked over to the couch, not bothering to muffle his heavy steps.

Stretch didn’t stir.

Of course he didn’t.

The fool was far too trusting of someone with as much LV as Edge held.

With a light sigh escaping past sharp teeth, Edge leaned over the back of the couch, and dragged the blanket up and off of Stretch.

”WAKE UP, ASHTRAY.”

Stretch merely scrunched up and issued out a cross grumble at the loss of the blanket.

All right, then.

Time to test the waters.

Edge walked around to the front of the couch, knelt down, and stiffly pat Stretch’s shoulder. It was almost entertaining to see Stretch startle awake immediately, on his hands and knees, but he stilled when he saw Edge and offered a sleepy smile.

”mornin’.”

”MORNING INDEED.” Edge scoffed. “IT IS EVENING NOW, AND I BELIEVE THAT I TOLD YOU I WOULD BE ABLE TO GO ON A DATE WITH YOU AT THIS TIME.”

The light orange that dusted across Stretch’s cheekbones was new. Stretch let out a tired laugh and flopped back down on the couch, as though he didn’t believe Edge. “i didn’t imagine asking you out?”

”NO, YOU DID NOT.” Edge decided to take a suggestion out of his date manual and reached out to cup a gloved hand beneath Stretch’s jawbone. “DINNER IS READY. ONCE WE HAVE EATEN, WE CAN GO ON OUR DATE, IF YOU WILL LEAVE THE HOUSE.”

That dusting of orange grew darker as Stretch studied Edge, eye lights a little bigger than they normally were.

Edge lightly traced Stretch’s jawbone and then down the front of a few vertebrae, before Edge drew his hand away and stood up. Edge began to head in the direction of the kitchen, but paused partway there to glance over a shoulder at the sound of the couch creaking on old springs.

Stretch was sitting up now, staring with surprising intensity as his eye lights shamelessly raked up and down Edge’s body.

Edge half turned and struck a pose, knowing just how to stand to show himself off and draw attention to what he had chosen to wear. Intent rose sharply in the room, and it wasn’t the fighting kind. Edge’s fangs parted in a pleased smirk as he saw that Stretch had taken the invitation to inspect the date outfit, and in turn, Edge himself, more closely.

Perhaps this whole ‘date’ wouldn’t be so bad, despite not having the proper time to plan it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey look I finally got the next chapter out.
> 
> Also, addtnl warning: two brief mentions of thoughts of suicide via dusting.

Stretch took his sweet time inspecting Edge’s outfit, because who was he to deny such a delightful opportunity? 

Red sweater, edgy spiked jacket and tight, tight leather pants tucked into those high heeled fuck-me boots. Those pants were very snug, if a little on the short side, which did nothing to hide the tips of the scarred monster’s iliac crests.

Stretch shamelessly raked his eye lights over the other monster, soaking in the sight. Who wouldn’t indulge in and appreciate Edge in such an outfit? The scarred monster was even standing in such a way to allow for the best viewing angles, which meant Edge was actively encouraging Stretch to look at him.

Stretch gladly snapped up that invitation, his eye lights lingering now and again as he really looked at Edge properly instead of judging him for the LV roiling within him.

Edge cocked his hip to one side at one point, wearing a knowing smirk that made Stretch suck in a sharp breath.

If Stretch had formed a tongue to lick the inside of his teeth, well...it was what it was. Edge knew exactly how to push his buttons, rolling with such ease on this whole date business that it caused Stretch’s mind to reel.

“PROBLEM?” Edge asked, his sharp fangs tugged up into a viciously pleased smile, as if he knew _exactly_ what Stretch’s problem was.

Both of them knew it.

Stretch might not survive this date.  


This was clearly punishment for not thinking things through, because of _course_ Edge had clearly put thought into this unexpected situation. Stretch, on the other hand, had slept the day away on the couch without thinking, for even a second, that Edge would follow through on an actual date.

”AS FLATTERING AS IT IS TO BE ADMIRED FOR HOW GREAT AND TERRIBLE I AM...”Edge’s smug look seemed to increase in its intensity. As if he knew exactly how he was affecting Stretch in this moment. “DINNER IS GOING TO GET COLD IF WE DO NOT GO EAT IT.” 

Right.

Dinner.

Edge had made dinner for a date that was supposed to not have actually happened.

Stretch wasn’t sure when he would regain cognitive control again, as he seemed helplessly drawn to the monster before him. It wasn’t until Edge stepped closer and closed a hand around a wrist to gently urge him to his feet, that Stretch finally broke out of his stupor.

Oh...

Oh, that devilishly pleased _look_ in Edge’s single eye light...he was absolutely loving the fact that he’s managed to shut Stretch up.

Stretch didn’t bother opening his mouth again until he reached the table, aware that his skull was likely covered in a pale orange. Once he sat on a chair, and Edge’s hand released him, Stretch finally found his words. But as they tumbled out, what was supposed to be a casual crack at the other monster’s outfit ended up more of a compliment.

”you got a license? ‘cause it’s illegal to look so good in clothes from a dump.”

Edge stared blankly at Stretch, as if processing the words.

Oh yes, dinner was going to go swell.

Stretch wanted the floor to swallow him up right up until the point he realized that Edge’s skull had flushed a bright crimson as he fumbled and nearly dropped their dinner to the floor.

Oh?

Stretch sat up, a smile of his own growing to match Edfe’s earlier smirk.

Someone liked compliments?

How ever could he have missed that crucial detail that was just begging to be exploited?

Stretch hadn’t a clue that Edge had any emotions other than angry or disgruntled.

”you gonna serve us dinner or what, handsome?”

Edge thankfully dropped the dishes on the table, spluttering something incomprehensible as he turned his skull away to hide the brilliant crimson glow.

Stretch was fully awake now, a wicked smile in place of perpetual weariness.

He was going to have some fun.

-x-x-x-

“...so then i said, ‘what’s a little strain between friends’?” Stretch finished the story of trying and failing to use the strainer for noodles to drain them correctly.

It was one of many stories, and with each one peppered with terrible puns and knock knock jokes, Edge looked closer and closer to wanting to commit homicide with his fork.

“IS THIS WHAT YOU DO ALL DAY? MAKE UP TERRIBLE ATROCITIES TO ASSAULT ME WITH?”

”you gonna fork me for it?” Stretch asked, mildly interested in the answer.

“DO YOU REALLY WANT ME TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION?”  
  
”i dunno, edgelord...you gonna give me a straight answer?” Stretch winked a socket, drawing a dour look from the other monster. “just an fyi. if you’re gonna give me the fork, let me know in advance. i got a delicate constitution, you know.”

Edge set his fork down primly on his empty plate, even though it appeared that he may have wanted to slam it down instead, after being subjected to the earlier verbal spar and the subsequent line of bad puns.

”got something on your mind, edgelord. you look a little unsatisfied about something.”

Edge’s expression was one deep frustration, and perhaps, if Stretch squinted, something almost like happiness, as if he were enjoying the back and forth. It was a little hard to tell with Edge scowling.

”IF YOU ARE QUITE FINISHED ASSAILING ME WITH TERRIBLE PUNS AND JOKES, PERHAPS YOU COULD CHANGE INTO YOUR DATE OUTFIT?”

“but dinner is part of the date, right?” Stretch sprawled in his chair in a way that made Edge’s brow bone twitch. “i’m gonna keep this on.” With a lazy smirk, Stretch indicated the words across the fabric. “this seems appropriate.” With a slow huff of effort, Stretch got to his feet and went to stand on Edge’s right, so that the arrow under ‘honey-bae’ pointed at Edge. “isn’t that right, _bae_?”

Edge let out a disgusted noise and rolled his single eye light as he stood up and gathered the dishes. Grumbling, Edge went to deposit them into the sink to be later washed, and plucked a small bag up off the counter, shouldering it. Edge turned to Stretch, as if to speak to him, before his sharp teeth set together and shit. Silently, Edge carefully looped an arm behind Stretch’s back. 

Stretch held perfectly still, skull tilting down slightly to meet Edge’s eye lights.

”I said I’d take you on a date.” Edge’s voice had quieted. “This includes taking you somewhere, unless you’d rather remain in the house.”

Stretch stared at Edge for a moment, turning his words over, before his entire frame relaxed, and he shook his head. Leaving the house was probably good for him, even if it brought out unpleasant memories. Not like it didn’t hurt all the time to be in a house where Stretch would always be reminded of his brother’s absence in one way or another.

”Then let us leave.” Edge stepped away from Stretch, and led the way to the front door, allowing Stretch to exit the house first.

Stretch waited on the porch, not protesting the way Edge locked the front door. He knew that it made the scarred monster feel better, even if there was no one in the underground but the two of them.

Silence descended, the only sound snow beneath their feet as the monsters made their way through Snowdin, in the direction of Waterfall.

Stretch would have offered to use a shortcut, but Edge seemed to be in a mood to walk, so Stretch tucked his hands into his hoodie’s pockets and kept pace with the other monster. But Stretch did close his sockets when they came closer to the spot where his brother had been killed.  


He could do this.

There wasn’t dust here anymore.

Only the memories, long since passed, and yet-

_dented armor, a blue bandana torn to shreds, haphazardly lying on the snow. dust and clothing being buried by the falling snow, all that was left of Sans-_

Stretch hadn’t realized he had stopped walking, or that he’d begin to softly rattle, until Edge’s right arm wrapped firmly around his back, drawing forth an involuntary jump.

”If you need to close your sockets, I can lead the way.” Edge’s voice was still quieter than it usually was. “You’re doing well. We’ll be at our destination before Hotland.”

Stretch took Edge up on that offer, absently leaning into the other monster. Darkness was preferred over imagining seeing his brother’s clothing and dust.

There was lingering confusion and something more over Edge praising him for coming this far, considering Stretch hardly even left the house.

For his part, Edge held Stretch close to his side, and began to walk again.

Stretch went along for the ride without seeing where he was going. It helped, to not have to see the exact spot where Sans had fallen.

”We’re in Waterfall.” Edge offered, some minutes later.

Stretch’s sockets flickered open and he warily looked around, before relaxing again.

Better.

This was better.

The sound of water was soothing in a way, within Waterfall.

Edge said nothing as he dropped his arm from around Stretch’s back to hook the same arm through Stretch’s. A flush of magic must have caused that smirk to rise in Edge’s expression as the monster looked Strerch over.

It was almost as if Edge were enjoying himself in Stretch’s presence.

Stretch dropped his gaze.

He was imagining things.

It had been some time since Stretch had come to Waterfall, and he held his silence until he and Edge came to their destination.

A bench, that most certainly hadn’t been here before in any reset, with a perfect view of the false stars overhead.

Stretch honestly didn’t expect Edge to actually take this date seriously. He had been expecting the scarred monster to just humor him by taking him to some random spot. But Stretch had a feeling that Edge had taken into consideration the loss of his family and friends, and had chosen a place that would hold bittersweet memories, instead of death and dust.

That was surprisingly thoughtful of Edge.

Stretch was ashamed to say that he wouldn’t have thought Edge had it in him to be tactful. With a genuine smile tugging at his teeth, Stretch allowed Edge to lead him over to the bench, where the two of them sat down side by side. A low chuckle slipped out of Stretch when Edge just stared up at the false stars while loosely holding his hand in his own. Stretch wondered if he even noticed he was doing so.

A long silence passed again.

That seemed to happen often here.

Stretch wondered if they were supposed to talk or something for the date, but it appeared that Edge was content to sit there in the quiet with him.

This really was thoughtful.

Stretch wouldn’t say it aloud, but being made dinner, and brought to a quiet place where he was offered quiet companionship with no expectation of talking was more than he could have asked for. With a slow sigh, Stretch cautiously scooted closer to Edge, and when he wasn’t rebuked, Stretch carefully rested his skull on Edge’s shoulder. There was a brief moment where he tensed up but once Edge seemed content with where Stretch was, Stretch closed his sockets.

The dripping of water.

The quiet that reigned.

The sensation of another soul being so close to his.

It reminded him that he wasn’t alone anymore.  


Stretch found some peace for the first time in a long while, and, surprise surprise, he ruined it by falling asleep.

-x-x-x-

_Dust._

_There was so much dust._

_It was on Stretch’s hands, even if he hadn’t been the one to kill the other monster._ _There was a shadow that came up from behind him, while he was distracted. Quite suddenly, there was weight on Stretch, holding him down. Someone had covered him with something._

_ A blanket? _

_ Clothing? _

_ A tarp? _

_Whatever it was, Stretch let out a whimper over the way someone proceeded to press a hand down on his shoulder in a rough manner._  


_No._

_He had to stop even more dust from gathering. Was he being held down by friend or foe? Had he dusted someone? Had he seen someone else be dusted?_

”Stretch.”

_He could hear his name but all Stretch could feel was the LV that was much too close to him. Was it his, or another’s? Stretch forgot sometimes with all of the resets. But when another hand joined the first, further pinning him in place? _

_It made things worse._

_So much worse._

_Dust._

_There was too much dust._

_It was choking him, dragging him down. Whispers of murderer and brother killer all mixed together in a loud cacophony of noise._

”STRETCH! WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!”

_With a cry of denial over finding so much dust around him, and still on his hands, Stretch desperately lashed out..._

And realized with horror that he was already awake.

Edge was down on one knee in front of Stretch, wearing a pained grimace as he held on tight to a bone that Stretch had run him through with. The bone had gone in past his ribs, scraping bone and coming far, far too close to his soul.

Stretch numbly let go of the construct, his body beginning to tremble as he realized that he had used KR in his sleep.

”Are you awake now?” Edge questioned as he broke the bone, the construct shattering into pieces as it vanished.  


Stretch couldn’t say anything as a heavy guilt began to weigh him down, nasty thoughts beginning to jab at him from all sides. Those whispers followed him from the nightmare and they sent him spiraling down further and further.

He was broken.

Not to he trusted.

Stretch was so broken that he couldn’t even keep control of his own magic. He made use of a short cut, as Stretch was unable to bear the thought of what Edge might say to him. Anything could break him further and Stretch didn’t need to check his soul to know there were cracks littering the surface.

Judge

Killer.

Liar.

In an attempt to drown out the noise, Stretch stood at the very edge of one of the waterfalls. He stared down at the pitch black, wondering vaguely how far down it went. Just how far he would have to fall to dust upon impact, so he didn’t have to feel anything?

The loneliness was crushing him each year that passed without a reset. The absence of everyone he knew and loved was smothering him.

But Stretch wouldn’t jump, no matter how much he wanted this lonely existence to end. He  wouldn’t leave Edge behind to be driven to madness by being the only monster left alive in this place.  


It was Stretch’s fault that Edge was here in the first place. 

With a slow sigh, Stretch sat down, his long legs hanging off the rocky ledge as his khaki shorts got soaked with water. Stretch pulled his feet up so he could hug his legs to his chest and rest the bottom of his jaw bone on his knees. His sockets closed as Stretch let out a hollow laugh at how pathetic he’d become.

This date had been a terrible idea.

Stretch didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve any kind of attention Edge might give him, good or bad.

This shouldn’t have happened.

Stretch should never have asked Edge out on a date, even as a joke. He hadn’t realized the other monster would take it seriously.

Even if it might have only been one date, Stretch couldn’t allow himself to be in a relationship with anyone. Not while the uncertainty of a reset hovered over his skull, even if the years that had gone by pointed to it never happening again.   


But if a reset did finally come, and Stretch had emotionally invested himself in someone else? It was entirely probable that Edge wouldn’t exist any longer, as he didn’t belong in this place. Stretch didn’t even know if he would be sent back to his universe or just cease to exist.

Despite the small part of Stretch welcomed being closer to another monster, he needed to find a way to keep this as only a single date.  Maybe the whole unintentionally stabbing Edge while having a nightmare would handle it for him.

Stretch’s sockets remained closed. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, feeling that water flow around him as he distanced himself from the world around him, but soon, Stretch heard footsteps begin to approach him, the splash of the water kept to a minimum.

Edge must have wanted to hear him approach.

Stretch knew the scarred monster was perfectly capable of being completely silent when he wanted to be. Stretch’s mind was full of what he expected Edge to do and say now that he’d caught up to him, but again, Edge found another way to surprise him.

Edge sat down alongside Stretch.

Stretch didn’t open his sockets to see if the other monster was looking at him or not. Stretch fidgeted his fingers against his lap, stilling when he felt Edge inch closer to him until their femurs bumped together.

Time began to crawl by, quiet and unhurried.

Stretch flinched, his teeth clenched tight together when one of Edge’s gloved hands wrapped around his closest one. Edge was completely silent, only squeezing Stretch’s hand now and again to let him know he was there.

The sound of rushing water with no words forthcoming made Stretch begin to fidget again.

Why wasn’t Edge saying anything? Wasn’t he upset with Stretch for attacking? It wouldn’t matter to the scarred monster that it had been the result of a nightmare, would it?

Stretch was unable to look at Edge as the other skeleton stood, bringing Stretch with him, as he had done earlier with Stretch on the couch. Keeping his gaze on the water, Stretch refused to lift his skull, even after Edge had let go of his hand.  


Where was the belittling?

The snide remarks?

Stretch twitched a little at the stiff way Edge rested a hand on his shoulder. The scarred monster gave it what appeared to be a reassuring squeeze. As if to say that Stretch hadn’t done anything wrong.

He felt the reassurance in his soul and yet...it didn’t change the fact that Stretch had landed an attack on Edge.  Stretch could have really hurt Edge with his KR if he hadn’t come to so abruptly. Just that one swing from earlier had knocked a quarter of Edge’s HP down with a single point of damage, the rest of the damage from the unforgiving burn of KR against a high LV monster.

”Stretch.”

Before Edge could say anything more, whether it be more reassurances or a lecture, Stretch stepped away from him and vanished with another short cut. There might have been a curse at his abrupt departure, but hell if Stretch could tell with how out of sorts he was. Back in Snowdin, his soul echoing his melancholy, Stretch walked back toward his house with a lowered skull.

He was a screwup.

Weak.

Stretch hadn’t been able to save his brother this time, like all the resets before. He couldn’t even prevent himself from lashing out when waking from a nightmare.

He’d hurt Edge.

And even if the other monster wouldn’t hold it against him, Stretch was still going to beat himself up for it. Stretch had better control of his magic than that.

When had he lost it?

When Sans died this time?

Or was it several resets before that?

Stretch honestly didn’t know and didn’t much care right now, with his soul twisting itself in a panic while mired in grief.

He’d screwed up.

All that was left to do was wait for Edge to return and say his piece.

Stretch was already broken enough that he doubted words would have much of an effect on him anymore, even if they came from Edge.  Stretch stared at the front door to his house before turning away, and walked himself numbly to the backyard.

There was a grave there. One he’d made to house his brother’s dust.

Stretch sank onto the snow, his hand absently reaching out to brush the snow off the grave.

”i’m sorry, sans.” Stretch lost track of how many times he’d said the same apology over the years.

Sorry he couldn’t save him.

Sorry there wasn’t a reset.

Pulling his legs back up to his chest, Stretch stared at the grave for a time, before he closed his sockets. Stretch squeezed his arms around his legs and buried his face against his knees, letting out a shuddering breath.

Edge wasn’t going to want anything to do with him after what happened.  It would be better if Edge stopped attempting to help Stretch, since he wasn’t much interested in helping himself as time wore on.

Stretch was so tired of waiting for a reset.

It was so tempting to just let himself Fall Down until he was dust. 

But the thought of leaving Edge behind, all alone in this place, against his will, with no way to get back home on his own...the thought kept Stretch going, as it had back in Waterfall. Stretch should try his hand at fixing the machine, even if Edge had damaged it badly. He hadn’t wanted to before out of spite and disappointment that he hadn’t been able to turn back the time himself. But those thoughts could be dwelt on at a later time. Right now, all Stretch wanted was to rest, if only for a little while.

Edge was sure to track him down sooner rather than later. He was rather good at quickly tracking Stretch down in the house.

“i’ll try to hold out, bro.” Stretch mumbled, somewhat deliriously, some time later. “won’t do that to you or edge.” Stretch knew that he ought to move before his joints became frozen, but Stretch just couldn’t find it in him to do so. His brow bone pressed harder agaisnt his knees. “m’sorry, m’just so tired. shouldn’t have turned out this way.”

No response, just like always.

Stretch barely noticed when hands methodically tucked a blanket around his shoulders. But Stretch did notice when he was gently tugged backward, and he went willingly enough. His sockets blinked open briefly, vaguely aware that his body felt lightweight, if tight at the joints due to the frigid air. The pain, if there was any, didn’t register, and perhaps that should have been a concern.

“I have you.” The blanket was wrapped more firmly around Stretch’s body. “Let’s go back indoors.”

Stretch sagged backward into Edge, because of course it was him, who else would it be? Stretch let his skull loll listlessly to the side, able to make brief eye contact before but he slipped off into a dreamless sleep with a low, world-weary sigh.

A single crimson eye light burned brightly in a dark socket as Edge stared down at Stretch with shrewd, calculating intensity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edge: I don’t care what happens to this lookalike that brought me here. He’s annoying and lazy and won’t do a damn thing I tell him to do without a lot of bullshit, puns and jokes, and even then he won’t do as I ask.
> 
> Also Edge: It’s not that I actually like Stretch, the way he asked me to go on a date with him or the way Stretch defended himself in his sleep but maybe I like that he can do sufficient damage with KR like my brother...*wraps Stretch up in blanket* He is an idiot that didn’t dress properly for the date or Snowdin in general and I’m going to damn well make sure Stretch doesn’t dust himself through sheer stupidity like not taking care of himself *shifty eye light* I still don’t like or care about him or anything like that. Truly, this is the worst thing to happen to me *holding Stretch close, wrapped up in a blanket*


End file.
